Melissa Mitin: Michigan Mom Accused Of Throwing Two Babies In The Trash
Michigan mom Melissa Mitin left her baby in a gas station dumpster, prosecutors maintain. The 26-year-old Okemos woman has been charged with the murder of her first baby and is accused disposing of the remains of her second infant in a dumpster while she was out of jail on bond.
Melissa Mitin’s murder trial had been scheduled for November, but a lengthy stay in the proceedings was granted after investigators came to believe that the remains of the second baby were left in a dumpster. Michigan prosecutors believe that Mitin killed her baby girl in 2013 by putting her face down in a trash can while she was staying at a friend’s house, USA Today reports.
Melissa Mitin in court. #News10 pic.twitter.com/L69zEWVkt2
— Joy Wang (@JoyWILX) October 1, 2015
In the spring of 2014, Melissa Mitin was charged with the murder of the newborn. Just three months later, the Michigan mom was once again pregnant. The news that the murder suspect was expecting once again reportedly came as quite a shock to the prosecutors attached to the case. It was not until January of last year that it was revealed that the accused baby killer would soon give birth again. The remains of the baby boy have not yet been found.
Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III has not yet publicly commented on the motion to add new charges to Melissa Mitin’s indictment. Dunnings’ office requested that the court add a first-degree child abuse charge related to the mother’s actions with her first baby. The country prosecutors reportedly feel that a review of the pending case and statements by expert witnesses require the addition of a child abuse charge.
The trial for Melissa Mitin, accused of murdering her 2nd child, is postponed to late August #NewsNow pic.twitter.com/gmSWmU2KZi
— HOMTV (@HOMTV) June 18, 2015
Last February, the court determined that Mitin was indeed competent to stand trial. The country prosecutor told the media that no charges have yet been filed in the death of Mitin’s second infant because his office cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the baby boy was born alive and Mitin’s actions caused his death. Dunnings also claims that adding a second count of murder could “complicate” the homicide charges filed for the first baby death.
Once the court learned of the second birth, her bond was revoked, and she was once again placed in handcuffs and transported to the Ingham County Jail. According to a jailhouse informant, Melissa Mitin shared the details of the birth of both the babies. Mariah Haughton, 18, was in the same county jail awaiting trial on human trafficking charges, the Detroit Free Press reports. She pleaded guilty for her role in a prostitution ring and did not request a sentencing deal in exchange for her testimony against the Michigan mom. Haughton was given four to 20 years in prison on the human trafficking charges.
Mitin reportedly told her cellmate that she gave birth to a stillborn baby boy just before Christmas in 2014. Melissa said that she placed the baby’s body in a green sack that had held a birthday present for her and put the remains inside a gas station dumpster in Okemos. Forensics experts found a “substantial” amount of blood in the accused baby killer’s bedroom. One “large” pool of dried blood was reportedly found concealed by a throw rug. A friend of the accused told Michigan police detectives that she had given Mitin a birthday present in a green gift bag.
When she was around 35 weeks pregnant, Mitin still denied realizing that she was pregnant. According to court records, she said that a condom was used each time she had sex with her boyfriend. During a doctor’s appointment she agreed to after experiencing cramping, Melissa said that she was thinking about keeping her baby, but she still reportedly refused to look at an ultrasound image or accept literature about breastfeeding or infant care.
After canceling several doctor’s appointments, Mitin finally told her physician that she had given birth under the name Violet Miller at a local hospital. Police investigators eventually proved that the false name hospital admission claim was a lie. Melissa then said that the man who fathered both of her babies flew out of the Lansing airport to Abu Dhabi and then back home to Saudi Arabia. If convicted on the murder and child abuse charges related to the first baby, the Michigan mom could spend the rest of her life behind bars.
[Image via Shutterstock.com]
